Reacher at his best
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This is classic Lee Child, when the Reacher formula was still working at its very best. The serial protagonist is at his peak in this novel, probably the best in the ever expanding list of Reacher stories. The story begins with Ex-military policemen Jack Reacher is lying low in Key West, digging up swimming pools by hand, and we get one of the best descriptions of what Reacher looks like and really thinks in this novel, unlike some of the others were we are left to imagine the big man. He is not best pleased when a private detective starts asking questions about him, but when the detective, Costello, turns up dead with his fingertips sliced off, Reacher realises it is time to move on. He ends up in lethal trouble involving a vicious Wall Street manipulator, a mysterious woman (of course) and the livelihood of a whole community. Even the fate of soldiers missing in action in Vietnam is stirred into the brew.
Child prides himself that, as an Englishman, he writes American thrillers that actually sell well in the US, a rare breed indeed This new one is no exception-- every bit as lean and compulsive as its predecessors, it also builds on the freshest aspect of those books: Reacher may be a tough, epic hero, but he always remains human and vulnerable. It`s a great formula for thriller lovers, and if you enjoy this Genre, the Harry Bosh books by Connely, Dan shepard stories by Stephen Leather and try the Soft Target trilogy by Conrad Jones.Here's one for that long plane or train journey.
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Very good except......
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An excellent thriller, tense, many twists and turns, but Lee Child rests his story on old stereotypes and easy characters. The main complaint I personally have is that yet again we have the demonisation of a disfigured man as the bad guy and the healthy white guy, as always, the hero. Maybe some day a gifted writer like Lee Child may come up with a reversal of roles and actually make a 'deformed' character the hero and the all white macho male the villian. I wait in great anticipation :-)
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Nowhere near his best...
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I think this is the third Lee Child book I've read and it is by far the worst, mainly because it's kind of boring. Not an awful lot happens, the "twists" stand out a mile, not a lot of deduction happens and by far the worst crime, one interesting subplot peters out rather than merging with the main plot in the finale.
Read it if you're a completist, but don't start the Reacher series with this, as you won't continue with it. Killing Floor and The Hard Way are both much better.
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The hype
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I don't understand what the hype is all about regarding Lee Child and his character, Jack Reacher. I think I've read too much Andy McNab, Harlan Coben, James Lee Burke and others who KNOW what they're talking about to be able to put up with Child. Lee Child simply doesn't know what he's talking about, whether it's guns or surveillance or action or sex or whatever. His books are heavy with padding--meaningless description. His characters are one dimensional at best. His plots are simple and unnatural. But the main problem still is that Lee Child simply hasn't had contact with reality--hard, violent, brutal reality--and writes with a naivete that is merely stupid.
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This is how 'low brow' thriller writing should be done...
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Jack Reacher novels are always pretty good. Child's got a knack for keeping what are essentially quite similar stories fresh and interesting.
Here, however, he turns it up a notch and delivers probably the finest Reacher novel I've read.
While the novel is not going to win any awards for great literature, the so called heavyweights like Dan Brown and Michael Reilly could take a leaf out of Lee Child's book when it comes to penning a good thriller.
The story begins when a man sent to find Reacher by a woman Jack's never heard of turns up dead behind a motel in Florida with his fingers cut off. Reacher's curiosity is piqued and he journey's to New York to find out why the man had to die, and what it has to do with him.
His search brings him face to face with his own past, and with Victor `Hook' Hobie.
Hobie is far and away the best villain to feature in any Jack Reacher novel I have read so far. A man with a secret that he will go to any lengths, no matter how brutal or sadistic, to protect. For the first time, you feel that Reacher has met an adversary worthy of the name, and as the book winds towards its climax, it grabs hold of you and won't let you go.
An essential read for Child fans and a great book in its own right to keep the Reacher virgin entertained, I honestly can't recommend this book enough.
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